“We’ve never seen anything like this scale of bleaching before,” – said Professor Terry Hughes, who convened a team of 300 scientists to study the bleaching. – “In the northern Great Barrier Reef, it’s like ten cyclones have come ashore all at once.” Following aerial surveys of 911 reefs, the scientists found that only 68 were completely intact and that almost a third were severely or entirely bleached. (from: The Telegraph )

Pictures show the silent death of many of these beautiful organisms. But, as noted above, the bleaching can in some cases be weirdly beautiful, as the corals shed their algal cloaks and reveal themselves